


Game Night

by Gumby1011



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 01:24:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5987419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gumby1011/pseuds/Gumby1011
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So as we all saw that one time, Garnet really, really likes playing videogames. True, she may be busy with Crystal Gem business a lot of the time, but there's no reason she can't take a break every now and then. Shame about how she scares Mr. Smiley so badly, really.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Game Night

It’s really quite fortunate, all those months ago, that Garnet punched a hole in the _Teens of Rage_ machine. If she had actually started to use it, Steven would have _never_ been able to drag her away. As it was, the permafusion was standing in Mr. Smiley’s arcade, with the bald proprietor sweeping nervously in one corner, eyeing the gem. She was ever-so-slightly leaning down, gazing intently at the _Bling of Fighters_ cabinet, her hands a blur of motion.

Lars stood at the opposite end of the cabinet, sweating profusely as he struggled to catch up. 

_“Ten hit combo!”_

_“M-M-M-Maximum!”_

_“Shiiiin, HARYUKEN!”_

_“KO! Flawless! Player One, Winner!”_

Lars’ jaw dropped for a moment before his teeth clenched back together, “You- _How!?”_ He peered over the small crowd of arcade-goers at Sadie, who was playing another game a few cabinets over. “You said she only started playing _today!”_

“She _did.”_ Sadie mumbled, never breaking eye-contact with the screen. “What’re you so mad about? You’re terrible at that game anyways…”

Lars stammered for a moment, like the comment had physically stung him. _“Sadie!”_

A tanned hand fell on Lars’ shoulder. “Why don’t you let me take a shot at it?” Without another word, Buck Dewey gently pushed Lars off to the side before taking his place at the other end on the machine. “Just so you know, I won’t be holding back.” Buck warned from behind his screen, his face a blank slate. “This is my favorite game.”

Garnet- for her part- simply shrugged. “Just do your best.” In mere second the two had picked their characters, the round countdown had started, and the fusion gem was gone.

These human “video games” were certainly intriguing. There was an undeniable logic to them, a repetitive pattern that mutated and adapted as it moved forward. This game in particular (actually, all of these “fighting games”) were without a doubt the most potent in this regard. Each character had a complex-but-rigid moveset, each move with its own properties that complemented the others. It was astoundingly complex, and Garnet’s third eye was ever rolling, darting about and shifting focus behind her glasses as it narrowed down the thousands of possibilities into the two or three that pertained to the here and now.

Block.

Quarter-circle-forward, punch.

Backdash, jump, divekick.

In the battlefield- the _real_ battlefield- there was a flow to motion. One strike followed another because they felt natural. They were the attacks that were _meant_ to happen. But here? One move followed another because it was _perfect._

_“KO! Flawless! Player One, Winner!”_

_“Round Two! FIGHT!”_

Yes, all of that was certainly true. But there was _something else_ about the games. They were calming. The whole world and all of its problems blocked out by this one little box with the two little humans in it trying their best to outfight each other. It was a temporary reprieve, yes. The Earth would keep spinning until long after the screen had gone dark, and it was foolish to ever feel any different. But… All things considered, it was a welcome- if short-lived- release.

_“KO! Flawless! Player One, Winner!”_

_“Round Three! FIGHT!”_

Across the arcade cabinet, Buck gritted his teeth into a rather determined scowl.

He was certainly better at the game than Lars, and both of them were _leagues_ above playing against the AI. Human computers were woefully simple, and nowhere near complex enough to really entertain Garnet. Lars had certainly been unpredictable, but he had trouble getting the more complex moves out. With Buck there was finally something a casual observer might mistake for a “challenge.” Still... all of that thinking didn’t _quite_ get to the heart of why Garnet liked the game. She could feel something running deeper than that, but she couldn’t quite put a name to it. She was resigned to cease the introspection and let it lie, maybe later she’d-

A digital boot connected with Garnet’s fighter’s head, and all three of her eyes went wide behind her visor. In but a moment of confusion and pixelated hitsparks, the man in the blue gi was flying into the air. In that time the gem got a fix on the situation, but it was too late.

_Hrm. How unfortunate,_ muttered a cold voice.

_WHAT?_ a fiery voice shouted out.

_Prepare for the follow up._

The black-caped man jumped up to meet the blue-gi in the air, planting a quick set of punches on him before an overhead-axe-kick pelted Garnet’s fighter into the ground, smashing up a crater that quickly faded away.

_Oh, that’s garbage!_

_No, I believe the tutorial called it “getting comboed.”_

_I KNOW WHAT IT-_

Buck was earnestly grinning as the black-caped man landed on the ground and took a sweeping bow.

_He TAUNTED us!_

_So he did._

_He TAUNTED. US._

Garnet’s teeth gritted together as her grip on the control stick tightened.

_He’ll try a divekick next._

_Oh, I’ll slug him!_

The little blue gi fighter back dashed out of the way of the divekick and struck back with a flaming punch that chained into a rapid-fire combo that quickly laid out Buck’s fighter.

_“KO! Player One, Winner!”_

“Heh, gg.” Buck wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. “You know, you’re _really_ good at this game. You know they have tournaments for it, right?” He looked around the machine at the victor. “Like, where they give out money and stuff?”

Garnet was _beaming_ as she looked around the cabinet. “You know? That sounds nice. But... I think I’ll have to pass. Besides, it’s time I went home. This was fun, though!” The Earth was going to keep spinning, after all. Odds are she was going to have to make sure it did. But still…

“Say, Buck… Do you know if they make this game for one of those “console” things?”

**Author's Note:**

> Really this is just a silly little piece I put together after I had a moment of head canon where I pictured Ruby and Sapphire just sitting on a couch in Garnet's head whenever she's not fighting. I regret nothing. Completed in celebration of National Fanworks Day and posted early because I ended up finishing two stories for it.


End file.
